Goodbyes and New Beginnings
by willgirl
Summary: In honour of the ABY closing. Brennan makes a life-changing decision.


**So my forum, The ABY is closing down after 3 years. It was a hard decision and a sad one and I will forever cherish the friends I've made and the fun I had. This is for them!**

"So... that's it?" Angela said, plaintively.

Brennan nodded.

"I'm sorry Ange."

"I mean, I knew after Booth..." Angela trailed off as she looked around the lab. It had been their home for so many years. There were so many memories wrapped up in here that it was hard to distinguish oneself from them.

Brennan followed her gaze and sighed. She hadn't wanted it to come to this. Not this way. Over the years, she had turned down job after job, content to stay at the Jeffersonian. All that had changed 8 months ago.

Actually it was 8 months and 6 days. She couldn't stop counting.

Booth had died.

Just like that. He was laughing and then he was gone. She would never forget the look on his face as the bullet entered him. She was there, beside him. And in a flash, the meaning of her whole world went away.

As the shooter was apprehended, her hands pressed against his chest in a desperate attempt to quell the blood that was seeping around her fingers. He looked at her, that gaze that could always see through her and he smiled.

"Bones..." he had whispered.

She had shook her head but he forced her to look at him.

"Love you..." his voice was barely a whisper. "Tell Parker..."

And then she was alone.

And now, these 8 months later she could no longer pretend that everything was fine with her. Not that she had anybody fooled. But now, now she couldn't stand the pretending anymore.

She was leaving. Yes, it seemed like running away but it wasn't. Booth told her once that it didn't matter whether she believed in Heaven or not. If anything ever happened to him, he would be there with her for the rest of her life.

Not at all logical.

She could feel it in her gut. She smiled as she thought about the numerous times she teased Booth about listening to his gut. But she was following it now. And that's why she had to leave.

"Angela, I'm so sorry." She said, trying to figure out the best way to explain. "I just need to go. It's time."

"But, we are here for you. You know that right?"

Brennan nodded. "Of course. Booth told me once that there was more than one type of family. He was right. You are my family Ange."

"What about Parker?"

"We talked and he's going to start his next semester in a couple of weeks. I think school will give him a good distraction."

"Come back at Christmas?" Angela blurted out.

Brennan smiled. "Of course. I suppose you will have broken in the new forensic anthropologist by then."

"Don't say that." Angela said tearfully, reaching over for a hug.

Tears came to Brennan's eyes and she hugged Angela back.

"Thanks for understanding Ange."

Angela nodded and got up, wiping tears from her eyes and she made her way to her office.

Brennan looked around. From her vantage point, she could practically see the whole lab. Memories played in front of her like a movie. The pig in the woodchipper, Tony and Roxie, seeing her mom's face on the Angelator, the day Booth kissed her in front of everyone, Parker's highschool graduation party, it all flashed before her.

She smiled and with tears in her eyes, she turned and walked out of the lab for the last time.

**Two Weeks Later.**

She stood on top of the small mountain, her hair blowing in the wind. It was so quiet and peaceful. Ever since her arrival she had felt that sense of peace that she had been craving for a long time.

"Dr. Brennan?"

She turned around to see Mark, her team member and fellow anthropologist.

"Yes?"

"We are ready to begin the excavation of the bodies."

She nodded. "I will be there in a moment."

She turned and looked out at the beautiful sky once more.

"Thanks Booth." She whispered. And as she turned and headed down the rocky path, she remembered what he told her when Sully had left.

"_**Give it time, Bones, okay? Give it time. Everything happens eventually.  
Everything?  
All the good stuff. And when you think it never happens, it happens. Just got to be ready for it."**_


End file.
